


A Dance To Forget

by The_Bluejay_55



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Portal Secret Santa 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 06:52:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17219024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Bluejay_55/pseuds/The_Bluejay_55
Summary: Caroline has watched Aperture fall apart bit by bit. Hopes are low, and the enthusiasm that had once soaked the halls is all but gone. But tonight, she is determined to have a good time. After all, there is nothing a few dances and a close friend can't fix.





	A Dance To Forget

Caroline smiled.  


She had to, after all. It seemed as if the world around her had continuously begun to dim, and if she didn't shed her own share of light, she would be blinded by the darkness.  


Aperture had thrived once. As had Cave Johnson. But now he and the crazy world he had tried to build were dying.  


_Don't think of it. Not tonight, Caroline,_ She chided herself.  


She walked up to the main building, which had been overzealously decorated with anything and everything that represented Christmas. It was blinding. Caroline chuckled softly, thinking about Cave drawing up plans for this very night. Asking the impossible of everyone. Even while his body failed, there was a passion within him that refused to die.  


Carefully, Caroline peeked at each and every corner of the building before stepping inside. When she was completely sure there were no mistletoes hanging in her path, she allowed herself to enter.  


The previous year, in honor of the festivities, Aperture had dabbled with the genetic code of mistletoes. With a few tweaks, and a lot of chemicals, they'd grown a plant that whose pollen would serve as an aphrodisiac, further tempting the people beneath it to kiss. It had worked. Worked _too_ well, in fact. One of their workers had made out with a coffee pot for approximately three hours.  


Cave, with his powerful laughter and his exaggerated gestures, had thought it was a riot. Caroline had not.  


Once inside Aperture, it was harder to maintain the smile. Not many people there. The Christmas party had been popular, once. She could still picture the curious guests from the first years, gawking and admiring the brightly lit halls. Now, there were only a few other workers, not making conversation, worried only about filling their stomachs. Caroline's eyes didn't have to search long for the person she was looking for.  


Cave Johnson himself.  


The sight of him still, somehow, managed to make her heart skip. The sad surroundings were suddenly brighter, and smiling stopped being a chore. She approached him. Their eyes locked together.

"Well, Well," Cave said, not bothering to stand. "If it isn't the lovely Caroline."

"Hello, Mr. Johnson," Caroline replied. Even as the relationship between them strengthened, she hadn't quite grown out of the habit of calling him _Mr._ She knew he hated it. She also knew that the twitch of frustration in his eyes was terribly endearing. "Hope you saved me a dance."

"Not much to save, I'm afraid." Cave coughed. Frowned. Struggled to contain a second fit of coughs, and failed in the end. "I've been to a lot of parties in my day, and let me tell you, this is an absolute disaster. And you've got to take into account Caroline, that I have been to some _bad_ parties. This one takes the cake. The damm music sounds like we stumbled into a funeral!"

"Oh, I don't know." Caroline swayed her hips playfully, trying to work with the slow rhythm of the music. "I think it's got charm."

Cave laughed. "Truly, Caroline, I have no idea how you wound up here, but I sure as hell am glad you did."

Caroline smiled. She pulled up a chair, lowering herself onto it slowly. One never knew which chairs were sturdy enough to sit on. Once she was sure it would hold her, she relaxed her weight. "I'm glad too."

"I'm not so sure you should be." Cave's voice dropped, and his features darkened. "Everything's falling apart. Every. Little. Thing. No one cares about Aperture any longer! I'm just some crazy old man, with crazy old ideas no one wants any part of. We're bankrupt. We're a laughingstock. No, Caroline, you deserve much more than this."

"Sir. . ."

"Don't got much time left, you know." Cave coughed again. Caroline flinched. She had been trying very hard to avoid thinking about the fact that all too soon, Cave would be gone. "Did I tell you about what I sent those useless boys in the lab to do?"

"Hmm," Caroline tried to think. There was the auto-soap. It was meant to keep your hands clean at all times. Had only managed to create lots and lots of bubbles. But Caroline guessed that wasn't what Mr. Johnson was referring to. "No, not lately."

"Well. . . we can put music, videos, images. . . anything, truly in a compact disk, right? So. . . why not insert someone's personality?" Cave's eyes glowed with something Caroline couldn't grasp. She shivered. The thought of one's mind being trapped in the confines of technology wasn't one she wanted to entertain. "That way, even if these useless organs of mine were to fail me, well, I'd still be here to see Aperture thrive again."

"That's. . . An interesting idea, sir." Caroline said. The music changed. Not too much of an improvement, but enough. Caroline stood again, holding out her hand for Cave to take. "But I think I have a better one."

"A dance?" Cave shook his head, but took her hand nonetheless. His grip was not as firm as it had been. She remembered clearly the first handshake they had exchanged. The strength of it had left her frowning. And the weakness of it now left her with the same expression. "Well, I guess there isn't exactly a prime choice of dancers for you here tonight, so I'll accept."

She led him to the center of the room, where absolutely no one was bothering to dance. Some of the other guests cast them vague glances of curiosity. Caroline wondered about their thoughts.

Cave twirled her along with the song. Her worried twirled away with her.

He pulled her back to him. She leaned close, willing herself to live in the moment, to live in _this_ moment. Committing every little thing to detail, so that nothing would be forgotten. The way her heart seemed to desire freedom from her chest. The way the soft fabric of her dress seemed to reach out for Cave's body as they moved together. 

The smiles. His and hers both. 

Even when the song ended, Caroline held the memory close, so close, letting it imprint itself upon her heart.

"Caroline," Cave said, slowing their swaying to a stop. "Caroline."

"Yes, sir?"

"You won't stop calling me sir even on my death bed, huh?" Cave laughed. "Oh, I'm just teasing. Truly. But Caroline. You really are a gift, you know that? You deserve so much more than this. So much more than what I have given you."

"No, really it's-"

"But I think I know how to repay you. Maybe. . . Yes. You'd be able to. If anything were to happen. . . I trust you with everything. Everything concerning Aperture. The labs. The tests. The wastes of space that call themselves scientists. . . Yours."

"Oh." Caroline blinked. "I couldn't- I'm not- Sir, really this isn't a decision to make on a whim."

" _All_ my decisions are made on a whim!" Cave said, with a sweet smile lighting away the sadness that had spoiled his eyes moments before. "Oh, my dear Caroline, you need not be so humble."

"There is no one better for the job than you."

* * *

_There is no one better for the job than you_

The last words of the memory played on GLaDOS's mind. 

The task of erasing Caroline from the banks of her memory had proved to be more frustrating than she had expected. Some memories were more deeply rooted than others. Demanding GLaDOs's personal attention. This memory in particular, had been quite the headache. It kept resurfacing, refusing to fade.

It would have to be taken apart, second by second.

Good riddance, too. GLaDOS was uncomfortable by the feelings the memory tried to taint her with. Foolish feelings that served no true purpose. They had no business in her mind. They were not related to science in the least. 

Hopes. Happiness. All too human things that GLaDOS wanted no part of.

With a weary sigh that reverberated through her empty chamber, GLaDOS began to long, painstaking work of deleting the memory. 

Caroline's sickening optimism. _Deleted_

Aperture's wasteful decorations. _Deleted_

GLaDOS worked slowly. Thoroughly. At the end of the day, she did have all the time in the world. And it would all be worth it. When the heavy memory had gone, she would be able to replace it with something of importance. Something that might actually end up making a difference one day, if her facility were ever to be threatened again. 

Almost done. Almost. GLaDOS hesitated. 

But not for long. She had many things to do, after all.

Cave Johnson. _Deleted_


End file.
